MCP Server Integration - Limited Write Operations for Jira Issues

[mbevilacqua]

Hi Atlassian Community,

I'm using the Atlassian Remote MCP Server with Claude Code to manage Jira issues programmatically. While the read
operations work well, I'm encountering significant limitations with write/modify operations.

Current Working Operations:
✅ Creating basic issues (with minimal fields)
✅ Reading issue details✅ Adding comments
✅ Searching with JQL
✅ Listing projects, boards, and sprints

Operations That Appear Missing/Not Working:
❌ Updating existing issue fields (priority, labels, description)
❌ Transitioning issue status (To Do → In Progress → Done)
❌ Linking stories to epics
❌ Assigning/reassigning issues to users
❌ Setting custom fields during creation
❌ Deleting issues
❌ Creating subtasks
❌ Moving issues between sprints

Specific Issues Encountered:
1. When creating issues with priority or labels, the response returns undefined and the issue isn't created
2. No MCP function exists for update_jira_issue or transition_issue
3. Cannot set epic links programmatically
4. Search functions occasionally throw Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'map') errors

Questions:
1. Are these limitations by design for security/permissions reasons?
2. Is there a roadmap to add these write operations to the MCP server?
3. Are there workarounds or alternative MCP configurations that enable these operations?
4. Should we be using the REST API directly for complex operations instead of MCP?

Environment:
- MCP Server URL: https://mcp.atlassian.com/v1/sse
- Client: Claude Code (Anthropic)
- Jira Cloud instance

Has anyone successfully performed issue updates, status transitions, or epic linking through the MCP server? Any guidance
would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!